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Absolute Beginners

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For anyone who hasn't yet mastered Cripple Creek.

379 Members, Created 1/28/2011 -

Administrators: Wallster (owner) , Texasbanjo

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From klbeasley1435 on 3/23/2012 6:27:07 PM

Why do I keep touching the bottom string with my right index finger??? UGH! I've tried working on arching my right hand more but OUCH! Should it put strain on my wrist? Any suggestions anyone?

3 Comments
	Banjoukegirl says: 3/25/2012 12:59:40 PM Hi, Kristin. I'm about 4 mos. into clawhammer banjo. Dan Levenson's book has been really helpful. One thing he points out is regarding hand position is that you should be able to see the tops of your knuckes on R hand to get your hand in good position and NOT put strain on your wrist. You DO need to use wrist action, however, and NOT bend much at the elbow. This has helped me quite a bit as a beginner. Don't hurt yourself! Have fun
	Bird says: 3/26/2012 8:13:42 AM As a beginner myself, I'm not sure if any advice I would offer is "technically correct", but this is what I've found. I think it's pretty common to have a little soreness in the fingers & wrist as we are training them to move in a way they're not accustomed to. I've experienced some strain on my wrist, but it went away. My index finger was hitting the 1st string too for awhile, so this is what I did. I slowed way down, abandoned rolls, and focused only on my middle finger picking the 1st string. This forced me to keep my index finger up & out of the way. Then I focused only on my index finger picking the 2nd string, this forced me to separate the index/middle fingers and teach them independant memory. Granted, this quite a boring little excersize, but it has helped my fingers learn not to "follow the leader".
	Larry121047 says: 3/29/2012 12:15:14 PM Kristin, my first two weeks of practicing (roughly 2 hours a day) my wrist hurt my shoulder hurt my fingers hurt but I kept at it. As for hitting the bottom string with the index, well in time it will stop doing that. Mine took a couple of weeks but it finally got it's mind in the right place. Seems my fingers on my right hand and my left hand each have a mind of their own and they were just all over the place at the start. My second lesson my teacher said slow down, slow down, slow down and that helped a ton. Play it slow an deliberate and eventually the fingers calm down and start going where they belong. But, do not be dismayed if every now and then one of them just does something totally out of the blue. Earl Scruggs in one of his books says it takes a 1,000 times playing something before it is good enough to play and record as a professional. A thousand times, wow that is a lot.
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